Recommended listening: "Hand Call" from the Total Recall Coundtrack by Harry Gregson Williams.

Present Day...

"Aries?" Juno's eyes opened wide. "What are you guys doing here?!" He kept his gun raised, not in suspicion, but in disbelief.

"What are we doing here?" Max flipped around. "What are you doing here? We thought you were dead! We got a message from HQ saying you got ambushed at Goldwood, and that since there'd been no further communication, that you and your team were presumed K.I.A."

"We're here investigating Sekhmet, and a strange communique we received," Angie helped explain. "We weren't able to crack the encryption, but the message was broadcast on all frequencies. Since it pinpointed the Sekhmet's exact location, HQ figured it couldn't hurt to check it out."

Juno could hardly believe his eyes. It had been him, Vela and Lupus against the Drone Army for as long as he could remember. The fact that reinforcements, specifically ones that he himself had trained, were here to help caught him completely by surprise. He'd known the other Jet Force teams had been deployed… but he just never expected to see them.

"Not that we don't trust your trigger finger… but would you mind pointing your gun somewhere else?" Angie leaned to one side, trying to ease out of the line of sight of Juno's pistol.

"Oh," Juno quickly lowered his gun. "Sorry."

"Weren't you explicitly ordered not to get involved with the Drone Army?" Max inquired. "What the hell are you doing way out here?"

"Meeting a contact," Juno informed them. "Any plans for non-involvement went out the window when my team got attacked. You know that message you got? It was meant for us. Gemini. I'm trying to find the person who sent it."

"So we're going the same way then," Angie summarized. "We traced the origin of the message to the Navigation Room at the front of the ship. It'll be nice to have some company. I was getting tired of this guy's constant mouth breathing. His breath smells something awful."

Max delivered a quick jab to Angie's shoulder, and she punched him back.

"Sounds good to me," Juno agreed. "Fill me in on what the heck is going on in this edge of the galaxy on the way."

"So you've been following a light this whole time?" Angie asked. Juno had filled them in on the Phantom's Light Show. Max was leading the way down the corridor, with the other two guarding his rear.

"Yeah, but it stopped as soon as you two showed up."

The three silently crept through the halls, ducking past patrols and avoiding detection by cameras. Juno tapped Max on the shoulder, taking point. With the Phantom was no longer guiding him, he found himself in disbelief at the sheer number of Drone soldiers walking the halls. The place was thick with them. Even though he was in expert in stealth and recon, Juno found himself doubling back and waiting for patrols to move on for more than half an hour.

"This place is crawling with Drones," Angie stated as she took point. "Where did the Drone Resistance get all these guys from?"

"Resistance?" Juno asked quizzically.

"There's a small group of Drones still devoted to Mizar and his teachings of galactic domination, despite his demise." Max explained. "They're vengeful against the Tribals and against Humans, and are being led by a Red Drone named Hacthor. They're calling themselves 'The Remnants'."

"Hacthor is using Sekhmet as his base of operations," Angie helped. "All of the Drone assaults on Tribal settlements recently have been launched from here. But our intel told us they were a small force, maybe a hundred strong at the most. From what we're seeing here, though, it''s like a new army."

"The refugees," Juno filled in as he made the connection. "All these Drones are from Mizar's Palace." Max and Angie exchanged glances, then looked at Juno.

"How could you know that?" Max inquired. "That colony is full of war victims and untrained civilians. You're telling me they're the ones occupying this place?"

"I went there," Juno explained. "To Mizar's Palace. The place is a ghost town. There wasn't a life sign on the entire planet. Well… there was one, but he didn't last long. Someone gathered what was left of the Drones and trained them. Trained them good, too. These guys are smarter, faster, and tougher than Mizar's troops."

The team closed in on the entrance to the Navigation Room. The entrance was being guarded by seven drones, two watching each corridor and three in front of the door itself. Max and Angie slid close to Juno, and all three observed the station.

"See what I mean?" Juno pointed out. "No lounging around or goofing off on duty, and increased security measures. Somebody's paranoid. Who's this Hacthor guy? Got any more info on him?"

"Not really," Angie shook her head. "He was a leader of a small division back during Mizar's reign, most of which joined his Resistance. I don't believe he received any special training compared to others. By all indication, he's just another soldier."

"Bull crap," Juno dismissed. He went back to analyzing the situation. "It doesn't look like we're going to be able to go in without alerting someone."

"Fall back and regroup?" Max suggested.

"Nah, I'm on a tight schedule," Juno drew three grenades and pulled their pins. He gave a quick count to three, then threw them at the three groups of Drones. Each bounced once in front of the unsuspecting soldiers, giving them only enough time to recognize what it was before it exploded in a fierce blast of blue plasma. Limbs and green blood splattered in all directions, decorating the hallway with a grisly display of what was left of the security detail.

"All right, somebody definitely heard that," Juno announced. "Let's get in there."

The three Jet Force Officers ran over to the entrance to the navigation room, each making sure to check their corners and adjacent hallways. The door access panel indicated locked.

"Door's locked," Angie stated. "It's going to be a while before I can open it either. You guys will have to cover me."

"Or…" Juno's voice trailed off.

"Or?" Max asked. "Or what?"

"Or we ask nicely," Juno replied simply. He stepped in front of the nearest security camera and looked directly into it. "Can you let us in? It's okay… you can trust me. I've trusted you so far."

"Are you crazy?" Angie asked with her mouth wide open. "There's no way tha-"

Her sentence was cut off by the sound of the door unlocking and sliding open slowly with a hiss. Juno cautiously walked up to and into the Navigation Room, casting a raised eyebrow over his shoulder at the Aries team. The duo followed his lead, slipping into the room behind him.

The ship's usual chrome and blood red architecture continued into this new area, and sported six navigation stations positioned in a circle around a center station. At each of the navigation stations, a White Drone sat in front of a computer screen. Juno was alarmed at first, then relaxed on closer inspection. All of the drones were unconscious, and unresponsive.

The center navigation station was raised higher than the others, with steps leading up to it. It was set up like a meeting table, with a the hologram being projected above a large round table with chairs in the middle of the room, currently displaying an image of Rith Essa. A control console for the center navigation station was positioned at the far end of the table.

Juno ascended the steps to the main navigation console, with Aries hot on his tail. The front door closed behind them and locked, sealing them inside. Juno crested to last few steps, and cautiously stepped around the table to the far seat, gun trained forward. Max and Angie stayed behind Juno as he approached.

Sitting at the chair wasn't a Drone, or even a person. A pair of too large blue eyes peered at Juno from a chrome metal body resting on the cushioned seat. A wave of nostalgia washed over Juno as he locked gazes with the small, limbless droid confined to the pedestal in front of him.

"…Floyd?" Juno whispered.

"Yes, but I'm afraid our reunion is going to have to wait," the droid spoke quickly. "I'm afraid your friends aren't as friendly as they may have led you to believe."

A whirring noise behind Juno started, and he felt two barrels press against his backside. One he recognized as a Plasma Shotgun from it's telltale whine. The other barrel, narrow and smooth, could be nothing but a Jet Force Pistol.

"Raise your hands. Slowly," Angie ordered with menace in her voice. "You may be fast… but you're not that fast."

Author's Note: Dum, dum, DAAAAAAAAAAAAM! Back on the webs after a 2-3 month absence, here's your reward for your patience! Stay tuned, one more chapter coming up after this!